Nate Robinson, a former defensive tackle for the Giants, was arrested in Newark on gun and drug charges. Courtesy of the Newark Police Department

NEWARK — Former New York Giant Nate Robinson was arrested Thursday night on gun and drug charges, one of three people arrested in a police crackdown after weeks of violence in the city, police said.

None of the arrests is thought to be connected with the spate of recent shootings.

Robinson, 28, who was driving a Chevy Impala, was stopped at about 10 p.m. Thursday near Avon Avenue and South 20th Street for a motor vehicle violation, Detective Eugenio Gonzalez said. Officers subsequently found a loaded Colt .45 caliber handgun and the drug Ecstasy inside the vehicle, Gonzalez said.

Robinson was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance, Gonzalez said.

Robinson, a defensive tackle who graduated from Irvington High School, was among Rutgers University's most heralded recruits in 2004 but was suspended from the team within a year for a "violation of team policy."

He later played for the University of Akron and was drafted by the Giants in 2008. He was released shortly thereafter and bounced around, playing for the New York Sentinels of the United Football League, and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Robinson's career never appeared to take off after that, though he is still listed as a free agent.

Meanwhile, Newark police arrested two other men Thursday while conducting "proactive patrols" around the city.

Officers near Elizabeth Avenue and East Alpine Street pulled into a parking lot and saw Colby Richardson, 24, of East Orange, "walking away at a fast pace while holding a object by his waistband," Gonzalez said.

At roughly the same time, near Hunter Street and Sherman Avenue another patrol entered a parking lot and noticed a group of men standing by a silver pick-up. They saw 29 year-old Jeffrey Richardson displaying a handgun, chased him and found him in possession of a loaded Amadeo Rossis .38 caliber handgun, a loaded Dust Off Para .45 caliber handgun and 200 plastic envelopes of heroin. He also was charged with multiple weapons and drug offenses, police said.

"We continue to reap the benefits from our increased patrols, which have led to the arrests of individuals that continue to break the law by their willful illegal decision to possess loaded handguns and narcotics," Police Director Samuel DeMaio said in a statement. "The Police Department will continue to clamp down and increase our enforcement to combat the recent uptick in violent crime.”